Koban

by Stephen W Bennett

  The auxiliary display indicated that eight hundred and seventy-four passengers were secure; eight other crewmembers were at duty stations, ten stewards secured among the passengers, and four off duty crewmembers were in their bunks. All eight hundred and ninety-nine souls, the three on the Bridge included were ready for the White Out.

  Mirikami, also noting the all-secure display, keyed on the ship wide intercom. “Gentle Sirs, and Gracious Ladies, White Out will be in about two minutes. You may observe our re-entry on your local viewers. Please remain seated after we enter Normal Space, as we expect to begin our vector towards Newborn promptly. You will feel a shift in ship attitude as we rotate and begin thrust. When we have established a constant vector at a compensated three-quarters standard gravity I will allow you to move about. Thank you, and enjoy the view.”

  The White Out went as always. As the countdown reached zero, there was a barely audible ping along the hull. There was no other physical sensation, and the best evidence that the Jump had ended came via the sudden appearance of normal star filled space on the screens.

  The term White Out was somewhat of a misnomer, and derived from the exit of the ship from an event horizon created via the capture of particles of enormous energy from Tachyon Space. There was a spray of radiation produced at a White Out, but it was directed away from the re-entry point in the form of invisible gamma rays. The White Out was the antithesis of the Black Hole like event horizon formation that initiated a Jump, just before the ship rotation into Tachyon Space.

  Noreen exclaimed. “I don’t believe it!” she spoke in exasperation, as she noted the star’s location. “Mother is on our aft screen. We overshot optimum reentry by at least four AU’s. I owe you another fiver Tet.”

  With deadpan expression in place, Mirikami acknowledged. “Captains are always right.”

  Then he added, “Do your sharp eyes have the second planet picked out yet? I see a large gas giant that Jake has flagged on the left side of our aft screen. If that’s the inner giant then we aren’t very far out. We might have a short vector to Newborn’s orbit.”

  “Sir, Navcomp has our position fixed relative to three pulsars and a quasar and the primary star.” New data continued to appear. “Ah!... Jake now indicates Newborn is aft and to port of our position, at about two point four AU and we are sixteen degrees below orbital plane. We’ll be overtaking Newborn from behind and below. Maybe...,” she made a rough mental calculation, “thirty to thirty-five hours out if we can maintain fifteen g’s in Normal Space. The Midwife beacon will give us the exact distance, once Jake picks it up.

  “Should I have the Drive Room use the last of the Jump tachyon to start vectoring towards the predicted position, or wait for visual confirmation Sir?”

  Trusting computer accuracy completely in this situation, Mirikami didn’t hesitate. “Let’s get underway. The star itself is moving away from us, or we from it, at a hundred-ten kilometers per second. We can step up to fifteen g’s Normal and one g internal after we catch a couple of new tachyons.”

  The transfer of the diminished Jump tachyon’s energy into the secondary field for Normal Space propulsion was completed. Noreen fed the course to the Drive Room and to Jake, the AI.

  2. Newborn

  Mirikami had a new wager ready when his First Officer had finished entering their course. “I’ll bet you another five Hub credits that we can trap a few more energetic particles and hold eighteen g’s all the way to Newborn.”

  “No bet, Sir. You either majored in Improbable Statistics, or tinkered with Jake’s prediction logic.”

  “Ah, well,” he sighed. “I’ll just have to get rich some other way.” He looked to Dillon, “Doctor, would you be a gambler by any chance?”

  Dillon’s chuckle matched his deep voice. “Please Sir, both of you may call me Dillon. Doctor makes me sound too old. And I’ll wager on some games of chance Captain, but I need a better grasp of the odds than tachyon capture probabilities.”

  “Well, might you be a practitioner by any chance, of the old Earth card game of poker?” Mirikami probed.

  “As it happens, I am. I completed my Doctorate on Earth. Poker was practically a required subject in my social circle. I’m a bit out of practice, but if this is an invitation, I couldn’t pass up the chance to play against someone that might try to beat the odds and draw to an inside straight.”

  Noreen gave him a friendly warning. “Don’t let his example today fool you Dillon. He chooses his bluffs as carefully as he navigates. Ms. Willfem, our Drive Engineer, has been learning some hard Poker lessons from our merciless Captain.”

  “We would be honored to have you join us at one of our games,” invited Mirikami. “The stakes are low and the atmosphere friendly. We will likely have a number of sessions during our two-week layover at Midwife.”

  Dillon promptly accepted. “Thanks, I would enjoy the diversion. Until our work crews have our equipment unpacked and our labs set up, I’ll have some spare time.” He was pleased to notice that Noreen had eased into the informal and first name mode of address with him. It was a good sign she had warmed to him. He visualized her naked, a warm fuzzy image, totally out of place of course, but one common to Dillon’s experience as he climbed the male social ladder.

  “Excuse me Captain,” Noreen interjected. “Ms. Willfem has advised me that the transfer to the secondary is complete and the primary Trap is retuned.”

  “Good, let’s boost. We’re losing distance every second.”

  Dillon could see the diminished K class sun against the backdrop of stellar pinpoints on the aft screen. It appeared to be slightly more orange than Sol, and much more so than Ramah’s hotter and nearly white star. Their motion away from the star wasn’t perceptible at this distance, of course.

  The acceleration gong sounded gently, followed a moment later by a slight twisting sensation and a mild push as the ship rotated and began a vector towards the still unseen planet, nicknamed Newborn. Dillon experienced a brief moment of vertigo as the star field swirled on the view screens.

  “Noreen, give our passengers our approximate ETA and remind them of the Last Night party in the Main Salon after dinner. Jake’s short-range scan hasn’t found any rocks we need to dodge. Key their couches and allow them to get up and move about, normal routine.”

  “Yes Sir,” she acknowledged, and then reminded him of another matter. “Jake had particle beam plasmas up to firing temperature before re-entry. Should we let the chambers cool now since there are no nearby rocks too large for the lasers to handle?”

  Nodding, Mirikami gave partial assent. “Cool number two; hold number one at sixty percent. We might want a quick reheat. This is an extraordinarily dirty solar system and, I don’t want to lose a lot of time avoiding all of the cometary tails. Contact the Midwife Bolide Watch Officer. Ask for any data they have on large debris along our trajectory.”

  As Noreen began executing her orders, Mirikami resumed his interrupted role as host. “Doctor, I assume you wish to contact Midwife Station. The radio time lag would be awkward at this range, but we can set up a record cube to repeat your message until they reply.”

  “The need was anticipated,” replied Dillon, as he dug a finger into a pocket of his belt. Producing a standard small black data cube, he passed it to the Captain.

  “Is there any one individual you need to receive this?”

  “Whoever is on duty will do. That contains our roster of personnel, as well as an inventory of equipment and cargo.”

  Nodding, Mirikami made several rapid entries at his keypad. “Jake will repeat the message until they send a reply.”

  In a change of subject, Mirikami broached a topic that had piqued his curiosity. “How long will your work here last, Dillon? I understand the Midwife research is rather short term, as large projects go.”

  Dillon examined Mirikami’s features carefully before responding. There wasn’t any hint of hostility; on the contrary, the Captain seemed quite cordial. He recalled that on Earth some c
lassmates claimed that oriental people had a reputation for being inscrutable. Was that the Chinese or Japanese people? He wondered. It wasn’t important in any event since he automatically gave an ambiguous answer.

  “We only have budgeting for eighteen months.”

  This was literally true, but omitted the publicly unpopular, if not outright hazardous, long-range project goal. The biological science Purge was over, now hundreds of years in the past, but fear and hatred of biological science often lurked just below the scars left by the last Wars. What some of their scientists intended to do on Midwife wasn’t death penalty level work on human genetics, but even plant and animal genetic modifications were subject to long prison terms.

  Mirikami noticed the slight pause, and understood the avoidance of questions about their work. He didn’t want to press, but he had a personal interest since Interworld had, in an uncharacteristic show of fairness, allowed Mirikami’s seniority to win the company route bid on a charter booked by a Hub client. It seemed odd that the company’s shipping contract had an open-ended termination since the project was scheduled to end after a year and a half.

  He worked logically, to see if he could draw Dillon out more. “The initial investment to buy a surplus orbital factory must have been expensive. Not to mention setting up the system wide Bolide radar net, and Midwife’s laser and plasma batteries to ward off small debris. Then add in the salary and upkeep for over a thousand scientists and support people. That’s a large investment for a short-term project, isn’t it? I personally hope for an extension of Interworld’s contract to supply you. The fat trip premium for the long Jump is welcome to me and my crew.”

  With the Captain’s interest explained and seeing no polite way to avoid the matter, Dillon provided a more involved cover explanation. “Captain, you and your company are certainly aware of the opposition to the establishment of this laboratory.” It was not a question.

  Mirikami was frank in his reply, “Yes, of course. After the contract award to Interworld, there were quite a few angry emails, and some threats aimed at Interworld interests. I’m certain that’s why the major Hub carriers refused to bid the contract. Rim carriers like Interworld have little to fear from a Hub market boycott, and Rim worlds can’t afford such gestures.”

  “Captain, the pressure on your company was minor compared to that placed on the Universities that allied to sponsor this study of Newborn. It was politically impossible to obtain funding for a lengthier program. It was either go with what we had, or never get started.”

  Mirikami doubted that so much effort would be wasted on so small a return, but seeing he couldn’t continue without appearing overly insistent, he changed directions. “I can see your problem, though the importance of Newborn in all this eludes me. Wouldn’t placing Midwife in some unused Hub area star system have saved you a lot in transport fees? There is primitive life on many worlds. Why Jump so far outside the established Human Sphere?”

  Here was a topic Dillon could warm to, without evasion. “Two reasons actually. First, closer to the Hub we would present a more visible profile, providing a focus for the irrational fears of an experiment going bad and infecting other systems. Since we are engaged in pure observational and data collecting research, no such accident can occur.

  “Second, and most important, is that there has never been a discovery of as pristine a planet as Newborn. The primitive life you mentioned on those other more convenient planets either did not originate there naturally, due to human contamination, or has been around for billions of years, erasing their beginnings, and are now stuck in an evolutionary dead end.

  “Except that Newborn is different! Life there is extremely rudimentary, barely definable as living at all. This particular stage of development moves rapidly, even on a human time scale, not a long geological scale. The more advanced developing life forms will soon overwhelm the less developed replicating molecules, and fill their evolutionary niches.

  “There has never been a comparable find. There should be only a few planets at this stage of development in our entire galaxy at any given time, and this one is practically on our doorstep.”

  Dillon was suddenly aware of the excited rush his words had become. He stopped for a moment as a self-conscious and sheepish grin transformed his features into a visage of a schoolboy. “As you can tell, I have great deal of enthusiasm for this project. I tend to get carried away when I talk shop.”

  Mirikami flashed an impish grin in return. “It’s quite all right Dillon, I’m really interested. Although I’m not particularly up on biology, I do work with life forms on a daily basis.”

  Dillon let go an explosive laugh, then quickly recovered. “Touché, Captain. Now I’m the one who needs the rescue of a gallant Lady.” He decided that he liked the man.

  Noreen, busy at her console, had nevertheless kept part of her attention on the conversation beside her. She came in on cue. “Alas, it seems to be my perpetual duty to aid hapless Gentlemen in extricating their foot from their mouths.”

  They shared the laughter this time. Dillon thought his hoped for seduction of the Lady was looking rather promising. Events were about to make that optimistic future dangerously complicated, despite the current good humor.

  3. Silence

  When the laughter faded, Noreen turned to the matter she had been about to mention to the Captain, waiting only for a break in the conversation. “Sir, Jake says the beacon on Midwife isn’t sending. He’s tried all the standard Omni frequencies as well as the published one for Midwife. The distance isn’t as precise without the signal, though Jake now has a visual fix on Newborn. Thirty-two hours is a pretty close estimate for arrival.”

  “No beacon, that’s odd,” Mirikami mused, his right hand pinching and tugging gently at his lower lip. “Even if they chose not to broadcast continuously in an uninhabited system, Midwife should have had the beacon on in anticipation of our arrival. Any recorded messages on the station’s docking control frequencies about a problem?”

  “No Sir. But...,” she thought for a second. “Let me ask Jake to check something.” She turned to her console mike, but Dillon couldn’t quite make out her words. However, he had an idea of his own.

  “Could Midwife be on the far side of Newborn in its orbit right now, and the signal is blocked by the planet?”

  “Not with the repeater satellites to prevent that,” rebutted Mirikami.

  “Oh, that’s right! Guess I’m still one foot in the mouth up on you Captain.”

  “You could consider it removed if you can tell me if the Bolide radar stations are manned or automatic. My display lists a radio frequency for each, but doesn’t say if they are staffed.”

  “Sorry, my foot doesn’t come out that easy. I have no idea if they are manned or not.”

  “Noreen, do you have our radio distance in time from Midwife?”

  “I just asked Jake for that Sir. We were twelve light minutes out from Newborn at re-entry. There is something else strange though. Jake has been routinely scanning the full communications spectrum. He says it is completely quiet. There are no intersystem radio messages floating around.”

  “We may have arrived during Midwife’s local nighttime,” offered Mirikami. “A lone watch stander might forget to switch on the beacon.”

  Dillon shook his head no. “I wouldn’t think so, Sir. We intend to operate on three shifts and work around the clock. It should always be a day watch for a third of the support people.”

  Mirikami resumed pulling at his lower lip in a pensive manner, “If they were expecting us today the beacon should be on, if not, our gamma ray burst will automatically trigger the beacon when it’s detected at Midwife or a relay station. We also started sending your radio message about two minutes after White Out. The homing signal should arrive here within twenty five minutes of our re-entry, and a few minutes after that we ought to get a reply to your message cube.”

  Touching a function key, Mirikami activated his voice Link and addressed the computer t
hrough the boom mike that appeared. “Jake, calculate the exact time we can expect the beacon signal from Midwife if it’s activated by our reentry burst, and remind us two minutes before that time.” The computer had a query, transmitted as usual to the Captain’s embedded transducer.

  Realizing that Dillon, as an observer, might wish to hear both halves of the exchange, he added, “Jake, say that again on speaker.”

  “Yes Sir” sounded a genderless voice from unseen speakers. “Do you mean an Omni beacon switched on in reply to our arrival burst of gamma radiation?”

  “Yes Jake, and also advise us if the beacon comes on earlier than that.”

  The computer acknowledged, and Mirikami disconnected and turned to Dillon. “I tend to assume our Jake can always infer my meaning from the conversational context.”

  It was Dillon’s first opportunity to hear the ship’s central computer speak. The support system computers installed in the passenger areas were typical public service models, much like those in bars, taxis and restaurants. Obviously, Jake ran one of the newest parallel processing Artificial Intelligence programs. Dillon was impressed, and said so. “He’s well programmed. He actually chose the correct answer before he asked you to verify.

  “Isn’t a JK model AI system rather expensive to install on a passenger transport ship? We couldn’t justify the expense for Midwife, and had to make do with a much older model in the J series.”

  Noreen shook her head. “Not in our case. A deep space transport like the Flight of Fancy can make them cost effective since we can cut our crew needs by nearly forty percent. Jake, who was named unimaginatively from his series and model of course, can practically run the ship alone.

  “That’s why there are only two command couches here. One watch officer usually monitors all the data and makes the important decisions. Direct human control, with standard computer assist, is still the most economical method on intersystem ships, and also on the shorter interstellar routes between Hub worlds and the Old Colonies.”